Lifelike animation of mannequins and dolls has long been a goal of the toy and entertainment industry. From the earliest "mama" type of doll to the most sophisticated human simulations generated for amusement park use, such animations have taken many forms and have enjoyed wide use and popularity as both toys and displays in amusement parks. The common goal in all of these animations has been the accurate simulation of speech, especially in terms of the synchronization of the facial features of the mannequin with an audio signal containing vocalization of both words and music. Such animation schemes have usually taken the form of electro-mechanical or pneumo-mechanical mechanisms which operate facial features via linkages connected to solenoids or motors. The solenoids and motors are typically driven by signals generated to operate in synchronization with the audio or are derived from the audio signal by electronic circuits sensing certain frequency spectra or other characteristic audio signals.
While the more complex of these schemes have been highly successful in the generation of animation which closely emulates the human features during speech or singing, they have also been technically complex and expensive to construct and maintain. This has prevented their utilization in the mass market for toys and the such and has restricted their use to expensive displays in amusement parks. There has been a continuing requirement for effective simulation of speech in toys which are available in the mass market, especially those that are capable of story telling or other interactive activity with the child. However, such systems have suffered from either, on the one hand, inaccurate emulation of speech animation due to their simplicity and the inexpensiveness of their construction or, on the other hand, excessive cost and complexity while providing an improved speech emulation. Therefore, there is a continuing need for a simple, inexpensive to construct and accurate speech emulation mechanism for use in toys and other inexpensive mannequins for the mass market.